Education Commons^™

Student Choice During Silent Solitude: An Examination Of Reading Motivation In An Urban Elementary School, Elizabeth A. White

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study was designed to examine differences in students’ reading motivation based on the frequencies with which they choose to read over other options. A modified version of the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ; Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997), using four of the eleven categories it was designed to assess including Challenge, Self- Efficacy, Reading Importance and Reading Curiosity. The students were also observed inside the classroom by their teaching staff and their choices were recorded on a Behavioral Analysis Checklist during a structured silent break in their day. The students also indicated whether they felt more confident in reading activities …

Discrimination, Acculturative Stress, And Academic Achievement, Rebecca A. Steele

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers report an association of racial discrimination to academic achievement for racial/ethnic minority students. Racial discrimination is manifest on multiple levels, including interpersonal discrimination, discrimination in schools, and societal and cultural discrimination. Researchers have generally focused their efforts on examining the effects of one type of discrimination on academic achievement. Further, mediators of this relation have not been fully explored. In a sample of 78 college students, only interpersonal racial/ethnic discrimination, and not school-based or societal discrimination, was negatively associated with GPA. However, the effects did not hold once controlling for demographic factors. Two potential mediators of the relations of …

Exploring The Impact Of The Achievement Gap On Shame And Resilience In African American College Students, Brittany R. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The achievement gap refers to the stark difference that occurs between racial or gender groups, as one group performs significantly higher than the other. An achievement gap has the propensity to produce psychological distress, as well as buffering techniques that are necessary for survival and success. Growing research shows that African American college students experience unique levels of trauma, shame, hardship, macro, and micro-aggressions, suggesting that these students learn to self-preserve as early as 10 years old. This study used a Pearson correlation, Independent T-Test, and a Moderated Multiple Regression to explore the impact of the achievement gap on shame …

Educational Achievement, Engagement, And Persistence In Choctaw Nation: A Study Of The Success Through Academic Recognition Program, Suzanne Delap

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has developed a unique initiative to support academic achievement within their tribal territory. The Success Through Academic Recognition (STAR) program is an example of an Indigenously-developed approach to supporting students from grades 2-12, with the hope of promoting achievement, persistence, and engagement. To study the STAR program, a mixed-methods approach was employed to first analyze quantitative demographic and performance data collected from a cohort of high school students from 2014 to 2018. Next, phenomenological interviews were conducted within the same cohort, to describe the lived experiences of STAR students within the Choctaw community. The database …

Examining Mediation And Moderation Effects Of Academic Motivation On The Relationship Between Disciplinary Events And Academic Performance In Secondary School, Cynthia Shuttleton

Doctoral Dissertations

Academic motivation is a key factor in students’ academic and behavioral success in school. Previous research has demonstrated strong relationships between disciplinary events and academic performance, as well as between academic performance and academic motivation. However, there is limited understanding of the relationship between academic motivation and disciplinary events, or how academic motivation, academic performance, and disciplinary events are related. The purpose of this study was to examine student self-ratings of their academic motivation in grades 9-12 in a public high school, and to investigate the associations and interactive relationships between these three variables. Participants (N=78) completed the …

Experience And Philosophy In Urban Public Schools, Austin Wade

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper examines the educational philosophy and experience in urban public schools. Combined with relevant educational research and personal reflection, this review presents an educational philosophy, specifically regarding aspects of discipline, classroom management, testing, curriculum, motivation, and achievement. The paper heavily relies upon my own personal experiences as a 10^th grade student teacher at Canton McKinley High School, in Canton, Ohio.

Struggling To Survive: Addressing The Graduation Rate Of Cal Poly's Black Men, Malcolm Saleem Mills

Social Sciences

This research project examines and addresses the 2012 6-year graduation rate of Cal Poly’s Black men. Given President Armstrong’s 2022 vision for Cal Poly to be an: “Enriching, inclusive environment where every student, faculty and staff member is valued”; “Create a rich culture of diversity and inclusivity that supports and celebrates the similarities and differences of every individual on campus”; and “Enhances student success,” there is a startling lack of research addressing this demographic of students. A review of the literature highlights the issue of Black male graduation rates in higher education on a broader scale and examines the impact …

Predicting Adolescent Academic Achievement: The Role Of Intrapersonal And Risk Behavior Factors, Stefanie Gill Scalcucci

Wayne State University Dissertations

There is a large body of research that shows moderate to strong correlations between academic achievement and various inter- and intra-personal variables. The aim of this study was to develop a model that explains the most variance and best predicts academic achievement in adolescence. Specifically, executive functioning, achievement goal orientation, academic self-efficacy, future orientation, and hope, from the cognitive domain, as well as school risk behaviors, social risk behaviors, loneliness, and mattering from the social domain were examined. Participants included 210 high school students (93 females, 117 males) from an agricultural school district in southeastern Michigan. In an aggregate model, …

Integrating Self-Determination And Expectancy-Value Theories In Examining The Achievement Of First-Generation College Students: A Latent Profile Analysis Examining Relations Between Perceived Choice, School Valuing, And Perceived Competence And Academic Achievement, Angela Starrett

Theses and Dissertations

First-generation students, who represent more than 40% of entering college freshmen, have lower academic achievement and struggle to persist compared to their continuing-generation peers. Although previous studies have repeatedly shown a deficit model for first-generation students, there is still a lack of clear understanding about the heterogeneity that exists among these college students. While some do struggle to persist, others show marked resilience. Thus, drawing on Self-Determination Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory, this short-term longitudinal study examined whether perceived competence, perceived choice, and positive school value could moderate the risk of being a first-generation college student. A latent profile analysis on …

A Meta-Analysis Of The Longitudinal Relationship Between Adolescent Depression And Academic Achievement., Rachel E. Buehner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Researchers in the fields of both education and mental health endeavor to develop and implement interventions which will bring children and adolescents greater academic success and optimally address mental health issues. Educators seek to target risk factors which might impede a student’s success in the classroom, while mental health providers seek to reduce issues within a child’s environment which might be risk factors for depression. Evidence for a cross-sectional relationship between adolescent depression and academic achievement is well-supported, with depression and achievement being negatively correlated in adolescents. The longitudinal relationship between these two variables is not fully understood, however. While …

High School Adolescents' Academic Engagement, Behaviors, And Achievement: Associations With Intrapersonal Factors And Academic Support Systems, Elizabeth Suzanne Robtoy

Wayne State University Dissertations

The current study investigated the roles of select intrapersonal and environmental factors in high school adolescents’ academic engagement, behavior, and achievement. This aforementioned combination of factors has not been considered for their combined ability to explain greater proportions of variance in academic engagement, behavior, and achievement, despite the fact that ecologically, there are multiple life contexts that interact to explain academic achievement development and this selection may provide important information. Participants were 415 high school students (171 males, 244 females) from a mid-western, suburban high school that enrolls about 1,285 students. Future educational goals, as well as executive functioning, emerged …

Academic Engagement, Motivation, Self-Regulation, And Achievement Of Georgia Southern University Sophomore Students, John O. Lemay Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that engagement, motivation, self-regulation, and their individual effects on student achievement are established factors that influence college students’ success. However, what is less clear are these variables’ relationships and their collective influence on achievement. Since students face unique trials as they persist through college, consideration of these relationships and their effect on the achievement of all students is necessary. There is a widening achievement gap between sexes; females have now passed males in enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates. Previous research in this area has been largely centered on undergraduate female students in their freshman year, but the …

The Role Of Individual Character Strengths In Adolescent Academic Achievement And Risky School Behavior, Paul Deschamps

Wayne State University Dissertations

Adolescent achievement is a major developmental task in adolescence and reducing Risky School Behaviors is an important part of the process. Patterns of adolescent achievement and general development are the result of the cumulative process that includes a long history of experience and socialization in school, in the family, in the peer group, and in the community. This study is the first to expand understanding of these key interrelated but unique outcome variables of both Academic Achievement and risky School Behavior through examination of individual Character Strengths in the presence of other key intrapersonal and contextual variables from multiple systems …

The Impact Of Psychological Birth Order On Academic Achievement And Motivation, Alissa Jo Combs-Draughn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Historically, research in the field of birth order yielded inconsistent and at times contro-versial results. Researchers have long been interested in the impact of birth order on both social and cognitive development, in part due to the research of Adler. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if psychological birth order directly impacts stu-dent achievement and motivation. The resource dilution theory and confluence model were used to investigate the relationship between sibling perception of family roles within familial settings and academic performance and motivation within the college setting. The quantitative study used an online survey to assess psychological …

A Cross-Sectional Study Of The Relations Between Parental Factors And Academic Achievement In High School Adolescents, Patricia Marie Lanzon

Wayne State University Dissertations

Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model was used as the theoretical model for this study of parental achievement factors that influence adolescent academic achievement. Many predictors are related to a child's potential for academic achievement. Of the most proximal are parental and family factors, which were the focus in this study. The proximal parental and family factors for this study were as follows: family structure, maternal and paternal parenting styles and parental involvement, parents' school and community involvement, parental attitude toward achievement, and free and reduced lunch status. Achievement as determined by the student's actual grade point average was the dependent variable. …

Measuring Undergraduate Students’ Engineering Self-Efficacy: A Scale Validation Study, Natasha Johanna A. Mamaril

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate engineering self-efficacy measures for undergraduate students (N = 321) and to examine whether students' engineering self-efficacy differed by gender, year level, and major. The relationships between engineering self-efficacy and academic achievement and intent to persist in engineering were also investigated. Data from engineering students from two southeastern universities were collected in spring 2013. Exploratory factor analyses resulted in a unidimensional general engineering self-efficacy scale and a three-factor (i.e., research skills, tinkering skills, and engineering design) engineering skills self-efficacy scale. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that self-efficacy did not differ by …

Reading Self-Efficacy In Early Adolescence: Which Measure Works Best?, Raven Richardson Piercey

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy and reading achievement and to examine the predictive validity of a variety of reading self-efficacy measures in a sample of 364 students in Grades 4 to 6. Mean differences in self-efficacy were also examined by gender, ethnicity, and school type. Results suggested that the four measures of reading self-efficacy were psychometrically sound. Mean differences were not present for students based on gender or ethnicity. Elementary school students reported higher levels of reading test self-efficacy than did middle school students. Reading self-efficacy predicted reading performance as measured by four …

Black Students' Perspectives On Academic Success, Melanie-Anne P. Atkins

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis investigates the academic achievement of Black high school students. It employs a theoretical framework of social constructivism grounded in anti-racism to conduct five case studies of achieving black Canadian high school students to examine how these students managed to achieve in the midst of a system that predicts their failure. I asked three questions: (1) What factors do achieving black Canadian high school students identify as being helpful to their academic achievement? (2) How do these students perceive their racial identities? (3) What is the significance of these students’ racial identity at school? I found that these students …

Applied Cognition In Reading: An Analysis Of Reading Comprehension In Secondary School Students, Joshua A. Cuevas

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

This research sought to add to a body of knowledge that is severely underrepresented in the scientific literature, reading comprehension in secondary students. Chapter 1 examines the current state of literacy in the nation’s public schools and the consequences that arise if students leave high school with inadequate reading skills. It discusses the neurological processes involved with reading and posits that independent silent reading (ISR) combined with scaffolding techniques may prove to be an effective method for addressing reading comprehension. The review also analyzes the components believed to be essential to reading, including vocabulary development, prior knowledge and background information, …

Peer Victimization, Student Engagement, And School Attendance: Structural Equation Models, Jason Benjamin Dunkle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Survey data from a study of 6^th grade students in Colorado (n=860) were used to estimate structural equation models in which peer victimization types were hypothesized to have significant relationships with both student engagement and attendance. Then, student engagement and attendance variables were hypothesized to have significant effects on achievement (measured as grade point average). Student engagement was viewed as a multi-faceted construct, composed of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects. Four different types of peer victimization variables (verbal, physical, exclusion, and intensity) were combined to form a latent measure for peer victimization that was expected to predict …

Social And Emotional Factors And Achievement Patterns Amongst High Ability Learners, Jacquelynn Anne Truckey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that social and emotional factors play a very important role in the achievement levels of all learners and especially so for gifted populations. This qualitative multi-case study was designed to explore, with a sample of secondary level gifted students, their lived experiences and the influences that contribute to their learning success. The rationale for this study stems from the researcher's desire to discover ways to better support secondary gifted students and to help them find more engagement and passion in school.

The purposefully selected sample was composed of five students at the middle and high school levels who …

Identifying Factors That Influence Academic Performance Among Adolescents With Conduct Disorder, Lisa May Quick

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

The academic underachievement of children and adolescents diagnosed with conduct disorder is well established in the literature. However, no study to date has explored the contributions of personal and contextual variables to specific areas of academic functioning in this population. In this study measures of basic reading, reading comprehension, mathematics reasoning, and numerical operations were assessed using the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) in 63 participants with childhood onset (CO) conduct disorder and 27 participants with adolescent onset (AO) conduct disorder. Participants were enrolled in a residential treatment facility between 1998 and 2002 at the time of evaluation. A series …

Socioeconomic, Demographic, Attitudinal And Involvement Factors Associated With Math Achievement In Elementary School., Jennifer N. White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which socioeconomic factors, demographic factors, parent and student attitudes, and parent involvement were associated with math achievement. Students in Grade 5 were selected as the population for this study. Random sampling procedures were used to select the sample. Students in the sample completed a modified version of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales. Normal Curve Equivalent Scores (NCEs) from the math scales on the TerraNova Standardized Achievement Test were obtained for all students from the individual school records. Parents of the students also participated by answering questions pertaining to …

Achievement, Locus Of Control, Self-Concept, Social Problem Solving Training And The Acquisition Of Prosocial Skills In Children, Laura Russomano

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Perceptions Of 4th And 6th Grade Students, Regarding Their Academic Abilities And Achievement, As Related To Participation In Distance Learning Using Interactive Television, Frances C. Stromsland

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Block Scheduling: A Comparison Of Block Scheduling And Traditional Scheduling And Its Relationship To Student Achievement, Student Satisfaction And Teacher Methodology In A Junior-Senior High School In New Jersey, Thomas Matarazzo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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